URBAN YOUTH SPORTS

Acting Program Director:
Linda Keefe

CONTACT INFO

NEEDS ASSESMENT SURVEY (1997-98)

• Only 15% of urban children participate in organized youth sports, as compared to 85-90% who play in the suburbs.

• Playing organized sports reduces the frequency of negative activites (drugs, violence, sex, etc.

BOSTON, MA – Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research at Northeastern University, Jack McDevitt, coordinated the Boston Youth Sports Needs Assessment Survey.

This assessment is based on completed surveys from 189 programs (serving youth ages 6 to 18) that were obtained through community leaders who organized data collection.

This needs assessment provided the basis for examining barriers to youth sports participation in Boston, helping identify priority areas for new and upgraded programs and planning ways to better organize and coordinate these programs.

Some of the results revealed that Boston youth have only 1/3 of the opportunities to participate in sports when compared to children in the suburbs, and that boys in Boston have twice the number of opportunities to participate in youth sports as Boston girls.

NOTE: This survey was conducted in 1997-1998.